May I take this opportunity to wish all Muslims SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI MAAF ZAHIR BATIN. This auspicious occasion is so special to not only our Malay brothers and sisters but all Malaysians, who spent the beautiful day visiting their Muslim friends. For all non-Muslims, have a pleasant holiday.

It has been 18 months ago since the DBKK Market in 88 Market Place was highlighted. So far there was nosign of any business activities in the wet market. PKR Supreme Council cum PKR SABAH Dr Roland Chia whilst receiving many complains from the hawkers and small traders.

Many small traders and hawkers are keen to set up stalls at the new market , BUT many are still being kicked around like a ball as to the status of the wet market.

Many complainants mainly hawkers and small traders raised questions as to the seriousness of the local authority of setting up another wet market- which is in tandem with the growing population in the highly densed development along Penampang Pintas Highway.

Many of the shoplot owners are also keen to see the wet market operational there with the same concept of a wet market in Singapore whereby there is a close corporation between hawkers and supermarkets.

Many investors actually bought the units because in the development plan – there was a DBKK Market. The additional wet market is for the convenience of the people.

The oil giant gets a major portion of its wealth from Sabah oil and gas reserves but despite this the state remains one of the poorest in the country.

KOTA KINABALU: Petronas,which gets a major portion of their wealth from Sabah, was taken to task for spending on luxury projects such as the Sepang F1 racing circuit and a '5-star' hospital for the rich .

PKR Sabah secretary Dr Roland Chia said Petronas gets a major portion of its wealth from Sabah,but it is spending money millions on lavish projects in the Peninsula while Sabah is right at the bottom in the country's poverty index.

Chia said Petronas had neglected its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to Sabah and has instead indulged in unnecessary projects.

He said Petronas should be using its billions of ringgit following the oil price hike for more meaningful causes, rather than sponsoring sports cars to participate in the F1 Circuit, or continue to finance the accumulated losses incurred by the Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur.

Sabah, the largest gas producer and the fourth largest crude oil producer in the country, has been short – changed and many feel Petronas should do more for the state.

"I urge Petronas to channel their CSR funds for more meaningful causes rather than building a half-a-billion ringgit elite hospital in Kuala Lumpur and continuing to finance the Prince Court Medical Centre.

"The money can be used by sponsoring community buses for rural school children who needed to walk for 10-20 km to reach their schools in Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

Critics have complained that Petronas spent RM544 million on PCMC and this contrasts with the RM47 million the company spent over the last 36 years from 1975 to 2011 on its Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) in Sabah, which works out to RM1.3 million a year.

"This is utterly ridiculous. Sabahans are living in poverty … their poverty index is among the highest in the country and Petronas under the BN government has got their priorities absolutely wrong."

On losses incurred by PCMC, Chia noted that in its most recent annual financial report ended April 2010, the hospital, wholly owned by Petronas, suffered a net loss of RM451 million on the back of a RM82 million revenue.

According to records, the luxury healthcare facility had liabilities and current liabilities of RM749.4 million while its reserves were RM178.3 million.

The hospital which was launched in 2007, made a loss of RM203 million on revenue of RM24 million in 2009 to put its accumulated losses over the two years at RM654 million.

Confirming the construction cost during a question-and-answer session in Parliament, in 2008, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Amirsham A Aziz, said the facility was established after the oil company had weighed its commercial returns and the access it provided Malaysians to world-class health services.

He said it was part of Petronas' corporate social responsibility.

"What nonsense are they talking about?" asked Chia.

He said Petronas could better serve the people by building charitable hospitals similar to the Lam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang or the Tung Shin Hospital in Kuala Lumpur to better serve the rakyat of Malaysia.

"I urge the Board of Directors to waste no time and start planning to build a charitable hospital in Sabah immediately," he said.

Chia, who is also a PKR supreme council member, singled out Petronas executive vice presidents George Ratilal, Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin and Anuar Ahmad for failing in their duties.

He said that as directors on the board they are earning salaries in millions of ringgit and should resign.